Record labels - Metalcore

 There are a few record labels which specialise in metalcore music. They sign bands that play metalcore or hardcore music (like defeater) in order to organize tours, or host festivals with lots of bands who will attract the same crowd. Some of these labels include:

Rise records was founded in 1991 by Craig Ericson in Nevada, California. The record label started off small, having only a few bands, they started off making 7" records, then moved on to CDs. Rise now has 34 bands.

These include: Of mice and men, Miss may I, Sleeping with sirens, Crown the empire, In fear and faith, Sharks, Bleeding through and The plot in you.

Fearless Records is an alternative rock-oriented record label that has been signing artists since 1994. Fearless is based in Westminster, California and are best known for their early pop-punk. However the label has experimented with different acts in recent 

years, these include:

A skylit drive, Motionless in white, Blessthefall, For all those sleeping, The word alive, Upon this dawning, Pierce the veil and Alesana. 

Sumerian records is an american independent record label based in Washington DC. Like fearless and rise, they specialize in metalcore bands, and Sumerian  have mostly  american bands signed to their label, and only a few British bands. Sumerian's bands include:

Asking Alexandria, Born of osiris, I see stars, Upon a burning body, Stray from the path and After the burial. 

Music video directors

Just like in a feature length movie, a director is required to monitor the production of the video and ensure everything is going to plan. The director is there to ensure that the band is doing the correct conventions of that genre, unless the video is based on something else. They are also the director of a back story that may take place to go along with the music video, ensuring all actors and other cast are doing the correct thing, just like in a movie. These 2 aspects are important in the music video to ensure a video is developed for the specific genre of music. The director makes sure that the conventions of the music match the genre of the music the video is applied to, unless it is intentionally altered for obscurity or comic effect. A popular director in the metal/metalcore scene called Robbie Starbuck is a director of bands within that particular genre. He has worked with bands such as Asking Alexandria, Times of Grace and Escape the Fate and developed music videos that fit to the various subgenres of music. The video for “Caraphernelia” by Pierce The Veil appears bright, and has a story relating to the lyrics of the song. Whereas the video for Asking Alexandria’s “The Final Episode (Let’s Change the Channel)” has a more gloomy and dark approach to it, hence the style of music played. Robby has done a good job of working with different conventions of music video genres. His website (http://www.robbystarbuck.com/) has all of his various videos on the site.

two videos that robby did for "Asking alexandria"  

Brainstorm for music video ideas

We think that the best way to make this music video is to follow the narrative. The song has a strong narrative which would seem pointless to ignore. The basic idea will be to have a guy and a girl following the lines of the song (which can be found in the last post) and going to different locations to do this, E.g A beach or the seaside. 

We want the video to match the pace of the music, so it will be fairly slow and also peaceful to fit in with the feel of the song. Another possible idea that we have at this time is to keep the people in the video anonymous and to not show their faces  throughout the video, to create an element of mystery. This will also inspire us to have to use a lot more creative camera angels, and possibly have to film at lot of it using low angels showing the bottom half of the bodies only. 

We feel that in this type of video its not particularly important to "have a lot going on" but more about how the video is made. Slow motion shots are another thing that we are considering to use, and also changing the contrast to make the whole video brighter, as we will be filming in the winter and we want the video to have a warmer feel.

When we finalise the ideas I will post again to show what we have decided to do and how we intend to make it happen.  

Defeater - I Don't Mind

When making a music video that tells a story, it is always good to keep the lyrics in account. They can assist in the portraying of the story very well and will make the music video not only easier for the audience to understand, but for the people to make as well because they will already have a template for the video. The lyrics I have posted are for the song “I Don’t Mind” by Defeater, our most probable candidate for our song choice. The song itself does not have a music video created for it, but when looking at the lyrics, it is quite easy to build a rough idea on what a music video for the song will look like. 



Let's talk about the old days, 
Let's talk about your friends, 
Let's talk about the summer 
And how you wish it wouldn't end.

Did I forget to tell you, 
How pretty you looked in that dress? 
In the first time that I saw you, 
You cleaned the mess from my head.

And I don't mind, 
If we take our time. 
No, 
I don't mind.

Lets go walkin' on the boardwalk, 
Dip our feet into the sea. 
Lets find ourselves lost for hours, 
Until we find ourselves a drink.

Lets talk that sun into setting, 
Just need the sound of your voice. 
Need that calming and the comfort, 
Something to drown out the noise.

And I don't mind, 
If we take our time, 
'Cause I'm all yours 
If you're all mine.

Something I've been meanin' to tell you, 
About three years and a day. 
I'd very much like to get married, 
Maybe have kids and move away, 

'Cause there ain't nothing like your smile, 
Your legs and those eyes. 
I will beg and steal and borrow 
To keep you safe your whole life.

And I don't mind, 
If we take our time, 
'Cause I'm all yours 
If you're all mine.